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Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/1539911
August-September 2025 • Nebraskaland 53 Yorkshire fi fth grader Kemper Marquart hadn't shot a bow prior to NASP but thought he would be good at it. After just a few weeks of practice, he was and has since won a few medals and trophies at area shoots. What he enjoys about the program is simple: "I like how when I pull back the bow, I can make the arrow go where I want it to," he said. A Family of Archers Milford is one of several schools in Nebraska that is all- in on NASP, regularly placing at state and qualifying for nationals. When she was in eighth grade, Natalie Nutzman found immediate success in her fi rst year of NASP, fi nishing third among middle school girls in the state tournament. The following year, she won the state girls title as a high school freshman despite having fallen and injuring her elbow. That injury, however, led to nerve damage in her hand that didn't appear until she went to the national tournament that same year. At full draw, she was in extreme pain. "I was actually really bummed because I didn't want to give up this sport that I loved," Nutzman said. Worried she wouldn't be able to fi nd a way to keep shooting, her coach and coaches from other teams helped her fi nd the answer in a mouth tab. Rather than pull the bowstring back with her fi ngers, she bites a tab attached to the string, releasing the arrow by relaxing her bite. She was initially disappointed when she didn't fare as well at state the following year. "When I got home, I had to just take a second and be like, 'Wait, I'm the only one that does this in the state. Why am I bummed about 15th?" she said, adding she did better this year and hopes to improve more as a senior. Getting to know her teammates and people from other teams is something she always enjoys. "It's weird because we come from diff erent backgrounds, and you just meet all of these amazing people that you wouldn't have met otherwise. It just becomes a family," she said. From the Line to the Stand One of the goals of NASP is to increase participation in the shooting sports. That has certainly happened since the program began in 2002: Participation in archery hunting and target shooting has grown from 7 million to 19 million. While it's not implicitly stated — hunting doesn't even garner a mention in the curriculum — another goal of NASP was to increase participation in bowhunting. That is why in most cases the program is coordinated by state wildlife agencies. The connection has still happened, though, as the current count of 3.7 million bowhunters is a 23 percent Members of the Yorkshire Homeschool Archers compete during the school year and also gather to shoot at other times, including taking advantage of the opportunity to use a range set up for an archery camp in York in June.